Trouble on the tracks at Steamtown National Historic Site?
Scranton, Pennsylvania is home to the Steamtown National Historic Site, a National Park that preserves the history of steam railroading in the United States. Out front, a restored roundhouse, a yard engine and a caboose greet park visitors. Inside park operations, however, Steamtown may be headed for trouble. The park’s annual visitation rates are down, and budgetary constraints have left the restoration of locomotives and old rail cars stopped on the tracks.
Steamtown Superintendent, Harold H. “Kip” Hagen Jr., hopes that the $1.5 million the park is set to receive in 2011 to remove asbestos from seven or eight locomotives and a similar number of passenger cars will assist in the restoration process. Asbestos removal is a critical first step in restoring the locomotives and railcars, according to Hagen. Steam locomotives were insulated with asbestos around boxcars and cabooses, refrigeration units, pipes, steam and hot water lines as well as brakes and clutches. Exposure to asbestos is known to cause asbestosis and mesothelioma, a rare but fatal cancer. The disease lurks silently for decades after exposure and is often not discovered until its late stages.
Some steam rail enthusiasts are so upset with the operations at Steamtown, they are calling for the park’s privatization. Ross E. Rowland Jr., active with steam rail enterprises since the 1960s, forecasts that visitation would increase to 250,000 annually if a proven commercial steam-powered tourist railroad operator were to take over the management of historic Steamtown.
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